TRENTON — Mayor Tony Mack is asking city boards and commissions to be a bit more transparent on how they handle city business.

“We are living in the information age in which tens of thousands of City residents are connected to the internet, via a mobile device or home computer,” the Mayor said in a press release Monday. “Why not make government information easily accessible on a medium that is so widely used?”

The mayor released a statement to the press on Monday, asking departments like the Board of Education, Construction Board of Appeals, Planning Board, Free Public Library Board, Lafayette Yard Community Development Corporation, Landmarks Commission, and Rent Stabilization Board, to begin posting a schedule of meetings, agendas and meeting minutes to the city’s website.

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Council members, who have been frustrated at the lack of communication and information they receive from the mayor’s office, were surprised to see release in their email box.

“He wants transparency, but the Lafayette Yard Community Development Corporation Board, which oversees the Marriott, haven’t been transparent with us,” said Councilman Zachary Chester. “The mayor appoints the board, and he has more control over them than over the Board of Education, because they are a separate division of the city … if he is asking for greater transparency then why is it that if you ask any Trentonian they don’t know what is going on with the sale of the hotel?”

Chester sited the slew of newspaper reports and rumors which discuss the board’s closed-door meetings with potential big-name hotel brands who are interested in purchasing the rights to the hotel, from the Marriott.

“We’ve heard that the Lafayette board, that is hand selected by the mayor, is having meetings with potential namers and that they are looking for a new management company, yet council does not know anything about it,” said the Councilman. “Council even approved money for the Marriott, yet we don’t have any updates regarding it. I wish we could get a copy of those minutes so council will know what is going on.”

Division heads whose offices are within the confines of City Hall were not told about the mayor’s request for city business to be put up on the web site, and were equally surprised to see the request from the mayor written in a press release format.

“I’ve not seen the release nor do I know what it is about,” said City of Trenton Health Officer James Brownlee moments before he opened the email.”

“When we have our BOH meetings, they are advertised in the newspaper, open to public and annual reports go on city website, there is definitely transparency the people we serve and I totally agree with the mayor to urge transparency between the boards and the community.”

According to the New Jersey Public Notice Law, civic meetings must be announced to the public up to 14 days prior to the meeting date and select city divisions, which are governed by ordinances and laws separate from City Hall, must proactively provide meeting agendas and minutes posted on their web sites and are held at the city clerk’s office for anyone in the community to view.

At a Board of Education Meeting held Monday night, Trenton Public School Superintendant Francisco Duran looked confused when asked about the mayor’s request for more transparency.

“We already post our meetings online, the adgenda and the minutes are posted on our website,” he said moments before the evening school board meetings was set to begin.

Duran said posting a link from the BOE website to the City’s website would satisfy the city’s need to share information with the community, however his confusion stemmed from not fully understanding what the Mayor’s is. “I don’t know what he is asking but he never asked me to post anything on the city’s web site.”

Critics suggest this latest communication from the mayor’s press office is another thinly veiled attempt to bolster confidence in an administration which has battled negative reports for over two years.

“I’m going to be completely honest with you, I’m not going to waste my time with what the mayor is asking for, because he is not dealing with more pressing issues like approving a budget or how we can get more resources into the city,” said Chester.

“There are major issues in the city and this should not be a priority.”